Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a separator assembly to be used in a fuel cell made from a stack of fuel battery cells.
Background Information
A fuel cell is configured by stacking, on both surfaces of a membrane electrode assembly (abbreviated as “MEA” below) in which an anode electrode and a cathode electrode are joined to the two surfaces of an electrolyte membrane, hundreds of fuel battery cells held between corrugated separators. It is common to stack a plurality of fuel battery cells in order to achieve a desired output from the fuel cell, and since the stacking aspect affects power generation characteristics, thoroughgoing investigations have been conducted with regard to the positioning of the structural components during stacking. Techniques for positioning the structural components that constitute a fuel cell have been disclosed in which, e.g., holes are provided in two opposing corner parts from among the four corners of a seal part provided on the outer periphery of a MEA, and the four corner parts of a separator, guide pins being inserted through the holes (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2008-59760).